IDEA 12 disable strange XML highlight

Question

This is how my pom.xml file looks in IDEA 12.

I hate how the app highlights the opening and closing < > signs.

How can I disable it?!

IDEA 12 XML Highlight

Answer 1

Go to Settings (Preferences) | Editor | Colors&Fonts | XML. On the right side choose Tag and select Background checkbox.

Answer 2

If you want to get rid of the grey background for XML, HTML and related formats, go to Settings (Preferences) | Editor | Colors&Fonts | Language Defaults and uncheck Background for Markup Tag.

I think the default setting was intended to highlight the difference between tags and content, but indeed, it's not very pleasant looking.